


The short second life of Betty Cooper.

by Lauren_is_a_moron



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 15:29:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14115354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lauren_is_a_moron/pseuds/Lauren_is_a_moron
Summary: Betty had no memory post being bitten, apart from awkward flashes, like a broken video VCR. She didn't have time to think; "Holy, fuck? Vampires are real?" Because she couldn't really think. All she could recall was her mind being blank, and the feeling of icy breath in her ear, the piercing knives in her neck. The irony of it all was that she was studying Dracula in English, and was supposed to study that night. Though instead? She got the full Dracula experience.or: Betty Cooper just wanted her neighbour to love her, her mother to get off her back- and to lose her perfect Girl Next Door image. How about losing all of that in one night, including her humanity?





	The short second life of Betty Cooper.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write about vampires and this kinda happened.

Betty Cooper died at age sixteen.

Sixteen years trying to please her parents, and for what? Nothing. She had gritted her teeth through AP classes, asshole boyfriends, and her intolerable mother. All to die at the edge of seventeen.

Her next life, however- her undead life, began in a night club on the South-side. It was the type of place she'd _expect_ to be murdered in; a Serpent nightclub. Though the thing was, she wasn't expecting to die while swaying to some chart pop song while bright lights bathed her face, sweat dripping down her neck, her entire body filled with ecstasy.

Betty didn't expect to die alongside Archie Andrews, her next door neighbour, and Jughead Jones, the eye-candy she had been staring at all night.

And she definitely didn't think the last thing she would see with a beating heart would be Veronica Lodge's pearly white grin, her eyes lit up as she twirled to the music. Just before the chaos.

In the eye of the storm, Betty Cooper thought she had finally cracked it. Friends. Four kids she barely knew pressed against her as they shared that last moment of life in perfect euphoria. It had been perfect. The best night of her life. There had been her next door neighbour finally paying attention to her, the most popular girl in school treating her like they had been friends forever. And finally, the cute hipster photographer who she wanted to know better. For the first time in her life, she felt genuinely happy.

Until the pain. The agony slicing into her neck. The fire. The burning.

The best thing to do was go back to the start. In that small moment before life and death, before the venom could reach her heart, she had to track every detail. Before the striking pain in her throat that made her scream louder than the music, before Jughead's howl of pain, and Veronica's breathy laughter as Betty felt all four of them fall together, tangled together, dying together.

~*~

_Elizabeth Cooper was done with following the rules. She wanted something fun and exciting- that wasn't endless homework, pastel sweaters and strict ponytails. Betty wasn't exactly South-side material. If there was a catalogue showing off North-side kids, then she would be in it. Her golden blonde hair, pale skin and obsession with wearing pastel colours, pretty much glued her place in the book for the next ten years. On top of her appearance, she was also what her mom called a "sheep". She wouldn't hurt a fly. Betty hated confrontation and had never been in a fight. Betty Cooper was picture perfect. Which made her the perfect model. The perfect target._

_So The White Wyrm seemed like the perfect place to let her hair down. There had been flyers going around Riverdale High, and they'd caught her eye. The flyers had been advertising some kind of party for youngsters. Normally the club was strictly for adults only. Her mother had said on various occasions that she was to never, ever go to the South-side of town. It was dangerous. She could be shot, stabbed-_

_"I've got it mom," Betty had rolled her eyes at Alice Cooper with a small smile. "I promise I won't set foot over there." Though that had been two years ago, when Betty had still been partly under her mother's control. Betty thought herself as a good actress, especially when she spun a lie about going to study at Midge's house. Though it wasn't that much of a lie. Midge was going to the party. But Betty hadn't spoken to the girl since Freshman year. Betty just did a good job of pretending she still had the friends she had let fade away. Though technically it had been her fault. Betty hadn't returned Midges calls or texts. She had ignored the girl's calls on the hallway, and eventually; Midge had gotten the message. Betty didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings, but if she was going to get into a good school, then she needed to lose distractions. Which unfortunately meant friends. Boyfriends. The internet - mostly. She allowed herself a few hours every night._

_But not tonight. Betty was finally going to let herself relax. She was going to have a good time with her classmates. So, ignoring her mother's warning, she had tied her long blonde hair into clumsy pigtails. She smiled at herself in the mirror, cocking her head at her reflection. She looked like a kid. Damn it._

_Betty sighed and tugged out the pigtails, leaving her hair to rest on her shoulders. Better. Ish. She picked up a tube of lipstick and twirled it between her fingers, before popping off the lid and coating her pink lips in the stuff. The lipstick had been her sister's, and Polly was probably going to kill her, but the colour was perfect. It was cherry red. The exact same shade as Cheryl Blossom's lips. Cheryl was confident. She was fiery, and she didn't take anyone's shit. That's what timid Betty needed. And if it was make-up that was going to help her finally feel confident in herself, then so be it._

_She tugged at her powder blue sweater. If she turned up at the party looking like a pastel edit, she'd be thrown out. After finding nothing in her own closet, she picked out a short black dress from her sister's room. The dress had been lying on Polly's bed, practically begging to be taken._

_Betty finished off the outfit with a pair of silver heels she had never even tried on. It took her five minutes to convince herself she could totally walk in them, and then after wobbling around her bedroom, trying not to trip over herself, she'd finally managed to stay upright. Betty was awkwardly pulling on one of her dad's leather jackets, rolling up the sleeves, when she finally looked herself over in her mirror. And finally, finally she let herself grin._

_Her hair was loose and unbrushed, her lips were ruby red, and her dress was barely reaching her knees. Her dad's leather jacket was the icing on the cake. It fit her perfectly. Betty did a little twirl, loving the way she felt. Is this what Cheryl Blossom felt like every day? She grabbed her phone and keys, stuffing them into her bag, and rushed downstairs, creeping past the kitchen where Polly and her mother were embroiled in a chat about college options._

_Betty held her breath, licking at her cherry lips. She pulled a face. Eurgh. It tasted gross. Betty grabbed the door handle and yanked it down. "Bye mom!" She yelled quickly, and was out of the door before Alice Cooper could catch her._

_Halfway down the street, Betty was breathless and her feet were killing. But she was filled with adrenaline, and had this stupid grin on her face. The sun was beating down on her, scorching the side-walk. Betty's stomach was doing cartwheels, but she continued walking, and didn't look back. She had barely made it a block, before there was a chuckle behind her._

_"Betty Cooper?"_

_That voice was familiar. She turned her head, squinting in the sunlight. There was a boy standing there in the five O clock shadow and when she peered closer, she realized who it was. Archie Andrews, the Varsity football captain, and her next door neighbour. Betty and Archie had grown up together, side by side. But never had an actual conversation. Apart from that one time when she'd caught him staring through her window at thirteen. It had been just after her award winning rendition of Take On Me, using her hairbrush as a microphone, and just as she was spinning around with her eyes squeezed shut, about to thank an imaginary audience of screaming fans, there he had been. Standing in his window, his eyes wide, his lips stretched into a confused smile. He had been laughing._

_Betty had been frozen for a moment. Completely paralysed. Her cheeks had been blazing as she stumbled over to her window and drew the curtains. Though Archie's voice had followed, still choked with laughter. "You're good!" He shouted. "Wait, I didn't mean-"_

_Thirteen year old Betty couldn't help herself. There was a boy talking to her. Yeah, he might have been freckled and plump with greasy ginger hair. But it was Archie Andrews, the boy next door. Who had finally spoken to her. After hesitating, she opened the curtains again and then the window. Archie was still there. His smile had been soft. "Like I said," he giggled. "You're a good singer." And when Betty had been too shy to utter a word, Archie's eyes had lit up. "What's your name?" He asked. "You're in my class, right?"_

_Betty nodded eagerly. "Betty." She said. Archie had sat in front of her for a whole year, and lived next to her since they were in Kindergarten. She couldn't stop her voice breaking. Though Archie was oblivious. "Hi Betty!" He smiled. "I'm Archie Andrews."_

_Betty had been ready to pour her feelings out to him right then. But the boy frowned, turning around. "Coming dad!" He shouted, before giving her a last smile, and shutting his window, and then drawing his Star Wars curtains._

_That was the first and only conversation they had ever had._

_She'd had a crush on him in Freshman year. How could she not? Archie had lost all his puppy fat and grown tall and lean. His broad shoulders and scruffy red hair used to make her want to melt. Archie belonged in the "North-side Catalogue" too._

_Like her, he was the perfect boy next door. But looking at him now, Betty resisted to question his choice of outfit. Archie's Blue and Gold letterman jacket was practically iconic, even if he was only a Sophomore like her. He was never seen without it. But now the boy seemed to be wearing something similar to her; a black jacket over a white shirt and frayed jeans._

_She cocked her head at him. Betty had grown far too used to staring into Archie'e eyes over the years. They were the perfect shade of brown. Dark chocolate. Though now- was that eye-liner outlining them? Betty blushed._

_She didn't think the boy could pull off eye-liner. But damn, he could. She felt butterflies swarm in her gut. Betty smirked a little. Archie's eyes were wide, though she could tell there was a questioning smile pulling at his own lips. Perhaps they were both wondering the same thing. Were the perfect boy and girl next door letting themselves go for the night?_

_The two of them stared at each other for a while, before Archie finally cleared his throat. "Betty, you look..." He seemed to lose his breath, his cheeks blossoming the same colour as his hair. Eventually Archie shrugged, before gesturing down the walk. "Do you wanna walk with me?"_

_Betty was suddenly concious of how short her dress was. How her lips were painted Cheryl Blossom Red, and the damn heels she could only just walk in. She managed a nod, and the two of them started to trudge down the side-walk. Betty stared down at the cracked concrete, her heart hammering in her chest. She had forgotten how to walk, and had to keep grasping at the boy's arm. But Archie didn't seem to mind._

_Though he was uncharacteristically quiet._

_Archie was usually loud at school. Betty would normally hear him on the halls of Riverdale high, yelling war cries for the Varsity Bulldogs._

_Betty risked a glance at the boy, and noticed he too had his eyes glued to the side-walk. He looked up and caught her eye, offering her a smile. "It was Veronica's idea." he murmured, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Betty swore Archie did everything awkwardly. He might look like a loud mouth jock who shoved freshman into their lockers. But he was just as damn timid as her._

_When Betty frowned at him, the boy rolled his eyes. "She wants us to go to this party on the South-side," he murmured, chuckling a little. "Which I presume you're going to, right?" The corners of his lips curled slightly as he eyed her transformation._

_Betty only nodded meekly. "I'm meeting someone." She lied. Archie frowned at her for a moment, confusion in his eyes. "You have friends on the South-side?"_

**_Keep nodding._**

_"It doesn't matter." She muttered. Archie didn't press her for more. He just smiled absently._

_Betty swallowed. Though thankfully, Archie didn't hear the breath catch in her throat._

_"I said it was a bad idea. But you know Veronica..." He trailed off, and Betty shook her head. She was starting to regret wearing the damn jacket. The sun was baking her. She shrugged. "I don't know her that well." she murmured._

_Though she did know Veronica Lodge when the girl strutted down the halls of Riverdale High in the latest Summer fashion, her perfect dark hair cascading down her back like she owned the night sky. Betty wouldn't be surprised if she DID own the sky. She was the daughter of Hiram Lodge, the richest man in Riverdale. Meaning she got pretty much everything she wanted. Anything Betty could only dream of. Veronica just asked her daddy for it, and it was hers within a day. In this case, it was her neighbour._

_Now Veronica Lodge had Archie wrapped around her little finger (and other parts of her body) and Betty had to pretend it didn't break her heart._

_"Are you okay?" Archie snapped her out of it. They had walked halfway across town already, and she'd had her head in the damn clouds. Betty nodded, glimpsing the outskirts of the South-side as the two of them hastily crossed the tracks, leading into Serpent territory. The Serpents were a gang her mother had warned her about. There had been myths about them being a cannibalistic tribe. Though Betty didn't believe that. In fact, she knew the Serpent's were nothing more but a petty street gang. A bunch of them went to Riverdale High and they mostly kept to themselves. Though weirdly, they avoided school on sunny days. Betty always spotted them coming in, almost as a pack, when the sky was Grey._

_"We shouldn't be doing this.” Archie broke the silence where the only sound was their shoes crunching through broken gravel. Betty shrugged and looked at him. "We definitely shouldn't be doing this, my mom would kill me if she knew I was here."_

_"If my dad knew I set foot on the South-side, he’ll ground me till I'm thirty." Archie grumbled. But neither of them turned back. Betty figured both of them, deep down, were reaching out for some kind of escape._

_Betty took her time, stepping carefully over jagged rocks and ancient cans of soda. She looked up, shading her eyes from the dying sunlight and glimpsed run down trailers in the distance. They were here. It was just over the crappy fence a few feet away. Archie ran over, grabbing at the fence and started to climb it. He wobbled slightly, huffing out a breath. Betty watched him, anxious of him falling. "So where's Veronica?"_

_Archie managed to get a leg over the fence. "She's already there," He replied. "Do you need help getting over?"_

_Betty started to shake her head, but then remembered her footwear. How was she going to get over wearing three inch heels? She sighed and ducked her head, folding her arms. "Maybe." she mumbled, and Archie laughed. He actually laughed, and she kind of fucking loved it._

_"I got it," Betty gritted her teeth and grabbed the fence, forcing the toe of her heel into the flimsy wire. Archie had one leg dangling over as he reached down, offering his hand. "I'll help you." He murmured, and Betty swallowed the stubborn argument in her throat. She nodded and grasped his hand. He held it tightly and yanked her up to his position. She wobbled and let out a squeak, and Archie chuckled. "It's alright, I've got you." He helped her skim the other side, and finally she landed on dead grass and weeds. Archie dropped down next to her, and the two of them took a moment to look out over the field they had landed in. The South-side was like a ghost town. Betty was sure if she looked hard enough, she'd find a tumble-weed._

_Archie let out a breath. "Wow." He murmured, and she nodded, glancing down at herself and then at the boy. They definitely looked the part of the South-side. But she was getting chills just thinking about walking into a club. Though weren't other Northsiders going to the party? Betty tugged her jacket tighter around her and crossed her legs. She was suddenly vigilant of hooded crooks coming out of the shadows and attacking them._

_Archie was staring at his phone, his expression crumpled. Betty noticed the sky was darkening, the sun dipping over the horizon, soaking Riverdale in a warm golden light._

_"Ronnie's on her way there now," Archie said, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He turned to her, smiling a little. "You still wanna do this?" His brown eyes glinted with mischief and Betty rolled her eyes. "Lets go." She murmured, grabbing his arm and pulling him with her. They fell into a much more comfortable jog, the two of them grasping each other as they tripped and stumbled over dead roots and litter. Betty was surprised how much Archie laughed. She'd barely heard him even chuckle while growing up, and yet when she'd fallen backwards and landed on her ass, he'd cackled like a witch, helping her up._

_Betty could barely believe this was happening. She was going against her mother, rebelling against her rules, and sneaking out at night with Archie Andrews her long time crush, to The South-side. She couldn't keep the stupid grin off of her face._

_Their shadows stretched across the field, lit up by Archie's phone he was using as a flash-light. Eventually they made it out onto the street, and Betty felt cautious once again, keeping close to Archie, as the two of them slowly padded down the strangely desolate streets. "It's quiet." Archie muttered. Betty winced every time her heels made clacking noises on the concrete. She made an acknowledging noise, and before she could say anything else, Archie's phone vibrated in his jeans. He pulled it out, glancing at the screen._

_"Oh, she's calling me." Archie's expression lit up, and he put his phone to his ear. Betty swallowed a groan. Veronica._

_"Hey, where are you?" Archie grinned at something said on the other end of the line. Betty could practically hear the raven haired girl's smooth voice, already undressing Archie. She ducked her head and resisted the urge to plug her ears._

_"Yeah, I'm about five minutes away. Oh! I'm with Betty Cooper, y'know the girl in our class?"_

_Betty felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment._

_"No, the girl with the ponytail? Ronnie, you sit behind her in chem." Archie turned to Betty and rolled his eyes, smirking. If there were any murderers or psychopaths lurking in the shadows, Betty happily welcomed them._

_"You're in there now? Awesome, we'll be there in a sec!"_

_Archie tapped END CALL and pushed his phone back into his jeans. Betty was trying to figure out what would pass as casual, when Archie caught her hand and squeezed it gently. "It's just down the road," he murmured, and Betty's heart skipped a beat. His hand was so soft. His fingers entangled with hers. They started to walk again, Archie leading the two of them. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He swung her arm playfully, and she nodded, swallowing. If he asked that question one more time, she was abandoning him._

_Archie didn't say anything else. They walked in a comfortable silence. There was a chill in the air now that the sun had fallen, and Betty shivered. She kicked absently at a soda can on the ground, cringing at the sound as it rattled loudly, rolling on its side._

_"How do we know which one it is?" She spoke up, lifting her head to look at Archie. The boy was staring at something ahead at them, his hair blowing in the breeze. Betty wanted to reach out and brush it out of his eyes. He chuckled. "If I had to guess, Betty?" He motioned in front of them, and she followed his line of vision. Down the street, right at a dead end, was what looked like an abandoned block of apartments. Though despite the blocks being dark, Betty spied a light. Pulsing colourful lights and a long queue of kids that stretched halfway down the street. Archie let out a breath. "I'd guess that one?" He smirked at her, and she nudged him._

_The two of them hurried down the street, joining the line of kids. Betty could hear the blasting music from inside. Betty felt panic strike in her chest at the thought of other kids being around her. But they all seemed to be trapped in their own little world of bliss, already drunk, high and happy. Nobody seemed to be judging her, or looking at her outfit because everybody was dressed like her. Low cut dresses, long carefree hair and bright lipstick on both boys and girls. Betty tapped her foot impatiently. "The line is so long!" She hissed to Archie, who was already on his phone, his fingers tapping at the screen. "Ronnie's friends with the bouncer!" He yelled over the loud chatter. "She can get us in!" He grinned at her hopefully, and Betty forced one back, with too much teeth._

_After five minutes of shivering in the cold and momentarily considering cuddling up to Archie, Veronica Lodge came to the rescue, and damn didn't she make an appearance. Betty watched, baffled, as the crowd seemed to part down the middle for the girl._

_"Archie!" Before Betty could blink, Archie was being suffocated by Midnight hair tangled with exotic flowers and a long flowing black dress._

_Veronica was beautiful. Betty had to admit that. With silent envy. The girl wrapped her arms around Archie, her expression lit up, eyes shining, her perfectly made up lips grinning widely. Veronica had chestnut skin that practically glowed in the dark. "Betty!" Before Betty could react, or attempt a greeting, the girl was smothering her too, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Betty Cooper, right?" Veronica pulled away, still holding her arms. She looked genuinely gleeful to see her, and Betty managed a nod._

_"I've told you a thousand times, Ron. You guys are in the same chem class." Archie teased, and the girl shoved him playfully. "Hush Archie." She giggled, and then turned to Betty, looking like she was about to burst from excitement. "Shall we go in?"_

_*_

For a moment, the memories faded. Veronica Lodge's face splintered into nothing. Betty was left floating in oblivion, her entire body burning from the inside out, and there was nothing she could do about it- except pray for death. She could still hear the thumping of pop music scathing her mind. Images fluttered in her head, but they were incoherent. As she scoured her mind, desperately trying to distract herself from the hell fire plunging through her veins, she managed to catch a glimpse of a boy. He had been twirling to the music in all black, bathed in colourful spotlights, a camera hung around his neck. Jughead Jones. The curve of his lips as he beckoned her over. She remembered stumbling over, clutching what must have been her sixth vodka and Coke.

 _"Are you listening to your own music in a club?"_ Her voice. Loud and obnoxious, riddled with giggles. 

_"Yes. Do you have a problem with that, Betty Cooper?"_

That was it. As hard as she wanted to pry into her own mind, finding the memory, the conversation they had shared, she couldn't.

Betty had never wondered what it was like to be a vampire. Because as far as she was concerned, they weren't real. They were fiction. Dracula, Nosferatu- even Edward Cullen. If she could look past the sparkling complexion and weak blood-thirst.

Betty had read all the books in the Twilight series when she was fourteen, and had never put the book down and wondered what it would be like if she had her very own pair of fangs. If she was a beast of the night. She had always been curious about becoming a supernatural creature. When she watched H20 Just Add Water at twelve, Betty had been half convinced that if she too got a single splash of water on her skin, she would grow a tail. But vampires? They seemed too fictional.

Throughout human history they had gone from terrifying beasts of the night, to depressed teenage boys, infatuated with dead-eyed Kristen Stewart. Betty simply didn't believe in them. So she never had that straying thought of becoming one. Though damn, all of that had gone out of the window now. All of Betty's personal thoughts and feelings about vampires had dispersed in her mind the very moment she died. Her throat being ripped into by fangs that were _real_ , by a real life literal vampire.

Betty had no memory post being bitten, apart from awkward flashes, like a broken video VCR. She didn't have time to think; "Holy, fuck? Vampires are real?" Because she couldn't really think. All she could recall was her mind being blank, and the feeling of icy breath in her ear, the piercing knives in her neck. The irony of it all was that she was studying Dracula in English, and was supposed to study that night. Though instead? She got the full Dracula experience.

Betty felt her legs weakening. Her body going limp. Her arms dead sausages at her side. Suddenly, she was Lucy Westenra. And the asshole who had been flirting with her all night, the baby faced senior with way too much hair and not much anything else, was Dracula. Betty had to know. Was she the only one? Because she was sure she had died along with the others.

But the one thing that was bugging her when she woke up in her undead state was; Could vampires still be drunk? Because she hadn't even opened her eyes yet, and her world was spinning. Like she was upside down on a roller-coaster. Even the strange itch in her throat and the burning in her neck was overpowered by the toxins in her blood. She still felt weightless, her mind still bouncing around her skull. She had to know if the others were like her. 

Undead and hungover. 

Betty let her eyes flutter open, and found herself inches from the White Wyrm’s ceiling. She panicked, kicking her legs, her body jolting. But she quickly realized that her legs, splattered scarlet, were dangling in thin air, and her body was simply...floating. She might have seen it as a beautiful sight if she was the one perceiving it. Her blonde hair hung in tangled rats tails, cascading into thin air.

That might have been the time when she started to freak out, her heart kick-starting into a frenzy. Except everything inside her, organs and all, was only alive because of her recent transformation. She was dead. Betty tried to sit up, but her head started to pound, along with her upper incisors. When she stuck her finger in her mouth, she spiked it on something sharp. 

She was caught off guard by a gasp of breath, and she arched her back, twisting around to look down. She wasn’t surprised when she didn’t feel her heart jump into her throat, or her cheeks flame. It was the boy from her fragmented memory. She recognised his tousled dark hair, the white shirt he’d been wearing was hanging off his chest, smudged a revealing scarlet. He was sitting up on the carpeted floor of the club. She could see the blood stains surrounding him. Her mouth watered. _Oh god, not now!_

The boy was staring at her, his lips curved into a frown. Betty remembered the boy’s eyes being sparkling green. It had been what had attracted her to him in the first place. She remembered his warm smile making her melt. 

Except now, the boy’s eyes were the same colour as Archie Andrews’ hair. His skin was perfectly sculpted, resembling marble, and she realised that the look on his face wasn’t confusion, it was something else. 

_Hunger. Territorial_

Betty felt her nostrils twitch. She could _smell_  him in all of his glory. Stale body odour, probably from before he died, masked with the rich scent of chocolate. Betty could only stare down at him and thank all the lucky stars that she could somehow fucking fly- or float. 

Betty didn’t move. Though all her newborn instincts were screaming at her.  _Threat! Threat!_

There was a grumble, and it could only be coming from his throat. Betty stared as the boy’s lip curled slowly, curving into a snarl.

”Who the fuck are _you?”_ He spat _._ Betty figured he too had some holes in his memory. 

Betty found her voice. “Betty.” She managed to choke. “My name is Betty Cooper.”

The boy’s lip quirked into a smile. His voice was smooth. Dangerous. “I’m hungry, Betty Cooper.” 

He was a hungry newborn probably ravenous and she was stuck floating in the air. 

Betty didn't think any other word in the English language would be suited for this moment better than; "Fuck." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos if you liked! If enough people like it, I’ll continue it :)


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